Sample Translations
Minsu Kwag A Very Special Rubber Duck E ng l i s h
Book Information
A Very Special Rubber Duck (아주 특별한 오리) Association of Young Authors Publishing corp. / 2 p. For further information, please visit: http://library.klti.or.kr/node/772
This sample translation was produced with support from LTI Korea. Please contact the LTI Korea Library for further information. library@klti.or.kr
A Very Special Rubber Duck Written by Minsu Kwag
I am a rubber duck. 1 “I want to be special!” There are 29,000 other rubber ducks who look just like me. One day, I was loaded on a ship with the other ducks. The ship set off from Hong Kong and sailed for the United States. I dreamed of many adventures while I was on the ship. But then… Kaboom! What’s going to happen to me? Am I going to sink to the bottom of the ocean? But look! A wondrous thing happened. We started bobbing up to the surface one by one. For the first time in my life, I saw the sunset. But soon enough, the sky and the ocean became pitch black. I was frightened. Then I noticed something in the sky. They were stars. I watched the stars for a long time. The darkness lifted and the sky brightened up. But I couldn’t see any other rubber ducks.
A seagull swooped down and grabbed me. I must be the only rubber duck to fly in the air! “I can’t eat this!” The gull spat me out. I drifted endlessly with the current. “I must be the only rubber duck to meet a penguin!” Later, I was sucked down by a gigantic whirlpool. Where did the sun and stars go? One day, the sky, the ocean, and I tilted. Sunshine poured in and blinded me. I also heard a loud bustling noise. “Hey look! There is a toy inside the whale.” A man handed me to a girl. “Perhaps you’ve had even greater adventures than the one in the whale’s belly.” The girl whispered to me. She closed her eyes. She was imagining something. I closed my eyes, too. She opened her eyes and grinned at me. Then she said “You are a very special rubber duck!” I had never heard anything so wonderful in all my life.
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